It’s no coincidence that barre shares its name with the waist-high horizontal bar used by ballet dancers to support themselves during practice. German ballerina Lotte Berk, founder and developer of the barre method, used the barre as the central indispensable tool in exercises that aimed to the rehabilitate injured dancers in the 1950s.

A lot has changed since then, and barre today is no longer just for people who need therapy, but for everyone who wants to have fitter, healthier lifestyles.